Armed Forces: Interpreters

Baroness Coussins: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Taylor of Holbeach on 9 January (WA 95), what advice has been (1) sought, and (2) provided, from United Kingdom Armed Forces based in Afghanistan to help the Government to assess the threat to Afghan nationals who have worked as interpreters with the United Kingdom forces.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Taylor of Holbeach on 9 January (WA 95), what advice has been (a) sought, and (b) provided, by the Ministry of Defence to help the Government to assess the threat to Afghan nationals who have worked as interpreters with the United Kingdom forces.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have taken advice on whether the denial of asylum to Afghan nationals who have worked as interpreters for the United Kingdom Armed Forces in Afghanistan and who are currently in the United Kingdom is compatible with the Human Rights Act 1998; and, if so, what that advice was.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: Arrangements are in place for asylum claims lodged in the United Kingdom by Afghan interpreters and other locally engaged staff who previously worked for the UK Government and Armed Forces to be referred by the UK Border Agency to the relevant department for further information and advice on the individual case. When that is received and all other available information taken into account, including the testimony of the applicant, the UK Border Agency will consider each case on its merits in accordance with our obligations under the Refugee Convention and the European Convention on Human Rights, and thus in accordance with the Human Rights Act 1998. In the event that asylum is refused, there is a right of appeal to the courts on refugee and human rights grounds.

Bahrain

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will make representations to the Government of Bahrain about the accountability of senior military and police officers, who were in charge when civilian demonstrators were killed or severely injured in 2011; and about publication of the official Bahraini report on those events.

Baroness Warsi: We have made representations on numerous occasions to the Government of Bahrain on the need for accountability of officials who were involved in human rights abuses during the unrest in 2011. This was also recommended by the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry.
	The Bahrain Government established a special investigations unit to look into allegations of unlawful or negligent acts by rule of law officials, resulting in the deaths, torture or mistreatment of civilians. We welcome this. But we do have concerns that, due to a lack of reliable evidence, the current number of actual convictions of officials is low. There are a number of trials under way and we urge the authorities to ensure due process is followed at all times.

Bahrain

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will request pardons from the King of Bahrain for non-violent persons involved in the 2011 protests, subsequently sentenced to life imprisonment and to long terms in prison.

Baroness Warsi: It would be inappropriate for us to ask a head of state of a sovereign country to override its judiciary.
	We do have concerns in certain cases where there are reports that those convicted had been abused in detention, denied access to legal consul and were coerced into confessing.
	We call on the Government of Bahrain to meet all its human rights obligations and guarantee its citizens the fundamental liberties to which they are entitled.

Bahrain

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will discuss with the Government of Bahrain the proposed draft law on non-governmental organisations, with a view to its conformity with international norms.

Baroness Warsi: We will discuss with the Government of Bahrain the important issue of a new draft law on non-governmental organisations.
	It is essential that such legislation conforms with international standards and that the authorities are adhering to all conventions to which they are a party.

Bahrain

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will discuss with the Government of Bahrain the alleged use of excessive force on 14 February in al-Dia village, leading to two deaths.

Baroness Warsi: We were saddened to hear of the deaths of two protestors and one police officer following clashes around the two-year anniversary of the unrest last month.
	We urge the authorities to be thorough and transparent in their investigations in to the deaths of the two protestors. We have raised our concerns with the Interior Minister and stressed the need for restraint to be exercised in all circumstances.

Banking: Professional and Career Development Loans

Baroness Sharp of Guildford: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is (1) the actual, and (2) the forecast, cost to HM Treasury of Career Development Loans and Professional Career Development Loans in England from 2010-11 to 2014-15 inclusive; and how much private lending per year is supported by public subsidy.

Baroness Garden of Frognal: The cost to Government of the continued delivery of professional and career development loans (known as career development loans prior to July 2009), the number of loans taken out, and the committed bank lending values are set out in the following table.
	
		
			 Financial Year Programme costs Loan take-up Bank lending 
			 2010-11 £11m 7,679 £53.4m 
			 2011-12 £6.8m 8,953 £66.9m 
			 2012-13 £7.7m 8,200 £66m 
			 2013-14 £7.9m 8,500 £68m 
			 2014-15 £7.3m 8,500 £69m 
		
	
	Figures for 2010-11 and 2011-12 represent actual take up. Figures for 2012-13 are based upon actual data to the end of December 2012 plus forecasts for the remainder of the financial year. Figures for 2013-14 and 2014-15 are forecasts and reflect anticipated demand.

Benefits

The Countess of Mar: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many claims were made for industrial injuries disablement benefit in respect of the C3 class of prescribed diseases relating to phosphorous exposure or any sequelae thereof in each year since 1985; how many of those claims were successful; how many confirmed organophosphate poisoning; how many were restricted to accident only; and how many awarded claims were subsequently disallowed.

Lord Freud: The available information is shown in the table below:
	
		
			 Industrial Injury Disablement Benefit-first diagnosed prescribed diseases all assessments in the quarter for Phosphorus Exposure-Time series. 
			 Year Total number of claims Number of claims in payment Number of claims disallowed 
			 1998 10 10 - 
			 1999 10 10 - 
			 2000 - - - 
			 2001 10 10 - 
			 2002 10 - - 
			 2003 10 - 10 
			 2004 10 - - 
			 2005 - - - 
			 2006 - - - 
			 2007 10 - 10 
			 2008 10 - 10 
			 2009 - - - 
			 2010 10 - - 
			 2011 - - - 
		
	
	Source:Department for Work and Pensions 100% extract of data.
	1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.Figures are for the 4 quarters ending March, June, September and December in each year.
	2. '-' Nil or negligible.
	3. Year ended 1998 is the earliest available data, prior to that figures were not broken down to individual disease level.
	4. Please note that the data shown in this table are produced from a very small number of claims and should therefore be treated with extreme caution.
	5. Claims from people resident overseas are included in all quarters. Includes cases where assessments resulted in none payment.
	6. Phosphorus Exposure is listed as a prescribed disease and not a "cause of accident".

Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009

Baroness Doocey: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether all UK Border Force officials working at St Pancras International station and the related controls in France and Belgium are subject to Section 55 of the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009, which requires the UK Border Agency to make arrangements to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: All Border Force officials working at St Pancras International station have a legislative duty of care under Section 55 of the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009 which requires Border Force to make arrangements to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. The duty of Border Force staff to safeguard and promote the welfare of children under Section 55 of the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009 is required to be discharged within the United Kingdom and does not extend overseas. However, as a matter of principle, Border Force officers at juxtaposed controls work within the spirit of the legislation. Officers at all juxtaposed controls maintain a high degree of vigilance and work to safeguard and protect vulnerable children and those who may potentially be trafficked.

British Paediatric Surveillance Unit

Lord Browne of Belmont: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they propose to continue funding for the British Paediatric Surveillance Unit.

Earl Howe: The Health Protection Agency is currently contributing to some of the administrative costs of the British Paediatric Surveillance Unit. From April 2013, this funding contribution will be provided by Public Health England.

Child Poverty

Baroness Lister of Burtersett: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether all the responses to the consultation document Measuring Child Poverty will be published online.

Lord Freud: The consultation closed on 15 February, and we are currently analysing all the responses before deciding on the next steps. This is an open consultation and we are considering each response seriously. At this point, we have not decided what the next steps will be and therefore cannot say for certain how we will respond. We anticipate however that we will publish a summary of the responses to the consultation alongside the Government's response. It is not always possible to publish all the responses to consultations as some request that their submissions are not made public.

Drugs: Prescribed Drug Addiction

The Earl of Sandwich: To ask Her Majesty's Government what guidance will be available to clinical commissioning groups, health and wellbeing boards and local authorities from April 2013 on the appropriate specialist services for people addicted to and withdrawing from prescribed drugs; and which government agency will issue that guidance.

Earl Howe: After April 2013, Public Health England, the National Health Service Commissioning Board and the department will continue to provide data and best practice examples to support commissioners and local groups which assess local need and commission an appropriate range of services.
	On 28 February, the National Treatment Agency held an event for local commissioners and providers. At that it launched for consultation, Addiction to Medicines: Commissioning Treatment for Dependence on Prescribed and Over-the-Counter Medicines.

Employment: Work Capability Assessment

The Countess of Mar: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether, in the light of the relevance of oral evidence to appeals against work capability assessment decisions, they have given consideration to decision makers taking oral evidence directly or by telephone at an early stage of the decision-making process; and what, if any, are the reasons against adopting such a policy.

Lord Freud: Following recommendations made in Professor Harrington's first independent review of the work capability assessment we have introduced changes to the decision making process.
	After the face-to-face assessment takes place and before a final decision is taken, a decision maker will try to telephone the claimant to explain what will happen next. This is known as the decision assurance call and provides the decision maker the opportunity to discuss the proposed decision with the claimant and for the claimant to provide further documentary or oral evidence if appropriate.
	The decision assurance call is an important opportunity to further explore with the claimant if further documentary evidence is available/required to help ensure that the correct decision is made from the outset. We are committed to continually improving the WCA and to ensuring that, wherever possible, decisions are right first time. The decision assurance call plays a key role in this, as well as helping ensure the WCA process is more empathetic and less mechanistic.

EU: Treaties

Lord Stoddart of Swindon: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether, in the light of the reported remarks by Mr Van Rompuy on 28 February that there was no impending need to re-open the European Union treaties and not "much appetite for it around the leaders' table", they have any plans to reassess their commitment to securing a new settlement for the United Kingdom in Europe.

Baroness Warsi: The Government will continue to seek outcomes that are in the UK national interest when negotiating with EU partners. This would include any future discussions on changes to the EU treaties. Not all reforms to the EU require changes to the EU treaties; the reforms to the Common Fisheries Policy currently being negotiated are a case in point.
	A number of the more ambitious proposals put forward by other relevant parties would require treaty change, such as some of those in the "Four Presidents" report and in the President of the Commission's most recent State of the Union address.

Finance: Early and Prompt Payment Schemes

Lord Harrison: To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the financial benefits in government procurement costs available from rebates from suppliers in return for early payment of invoices.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: Government policy is to pay undisputed invoices within five days and to pass 30-day payment terms down supply chains. We do not make early payment conditional on rebates.

Finance: Payday Loans

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they will take to strengthen the regulation of payday lenders.

Viscount Younger of Leckie: I refer the noble Lord to the Written Ministerial Statement I made on 6March 2013 (Official Report, col. WS141-43).

Food: Banks

Baroness Sherlock: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Lord De Mauley on 5 February (Official Report, col. 136), how many food banks were operating in (1) England, and (2) the United Kingdom, in each year between 1997 and 2012.

Lord De Mauley: There are no official figures for the number of food banks. The provision of food aid ranges from small, local provision, through to regional and national schemes. The greatest proportion is community-led provision responding to local needs. As such, the Government do not believe it is possible to keep a record of the number of food banks without placing unnecessary burdens on volunteers trying to help their communities.

Food: Labelling

Lord Patel of Blackburn: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to regulate the meat industry, in particular in respect of false labelling.

Lord De Mauley: The fundamental principle established in food labelling law is that information provided to the consumer must not mislead. It is unacceptable for consumers to have been misled in the way uncovered by recent events. If undeclared equine and/or porcine DNA is found in beef products (eg beef burgers), there are possible offences under:
	Section 15 of the Food Safety Act 1990;the Food Labelling Regulations 1996;the Meat Products (England) Regulations 2003 (and parallel legislation in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland);the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (CPRs); andRegulation 4(c) of the General Food Regulations 2004 making it an offence to contravene Article 16 of Regulation (EC) No 178/2002.
	Local authorities and port health authorities undertake thousands of analyses each year to enforce food labelling rules. If samples analysed are found not to be in line with legal requirements, follow-up investigations will be made and further enforcement action may be taken depending on the findings of the investigation, and any due diligence defence.
	The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has regular discussions with Simon Coveney, the Irish Minister for Food, Agriculture and the Marine. He is working closely with his counterparts in Ireland, and across Europe to ensure that the current unacceptable situation with horsemeat cannot happen again. This includes a one month programme of DNA testing of beef products across the EU covering domestic and imported products, results of which need to be submitted to the European Commission on 15 April.

Food: Waste

Lord Teverson: To ask Her Majesty's Government, in the light of the United Nations process to adopt a post-2015 development agenda, what plans they have to support the creation of a goal covering the issue of food waste and loss.

Baroness Northover: Using natural resources more efficiently and sustainably and addressing hunger are important issues in the post-2015 development agenda. Discussions are ongoing on what specific goals should make up the new framework.
	DfID and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs are working internationally with the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation to address the unacceptably high (30-50%) levels of food wastage globally.

Health: Doctors' Language Tests

Lord Avebury: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will make an announcement when they have reached agreement with the General Medical Council on the level of English language skills to be required of European Union doctors practising in the United Kingdom; and what criteria they will apply in deciding whether to test individual doctors before allowing them to practise.

Earl Howe: The department is working constructively with the General Medical Council (GMC) to determine the criteria to be applied before language testing, including what evidence European Union doctors would provide to demonstrate that they have the required language ability before testing would be required. It will also be for the GMC to determine what level of English language is necessary. There will be a public consultation on this policy during summer 2013.

Health: HIV

Lord Turnberg: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their policy on testing for HIV in patients lacking capacity to give consent following a needlestick injury to a healthcare worker.

Earl Howe: Where a person lacks capacity to consent their rights are protected by the Mental Capacity Act 2005, which determines that decisions on behalf of such a person have to be made in their best interests.
	The department's view is that both the taking of samples and the testing of samples previously obtained from a patient who lacks capacity to consent are therefore acts that may only be undertaken if they are in the best interests of the patient. This would include testing a patient for a serious communicable disease such as HIV following a needlestick injury to a healthcare worker.
	The department's view is that determining whether it is in the best interests of a patient who lacks capacity to take and test samples for the purpose of determining what treatment, if any, to offer a healthcare worker with a needlestick injury is a stringent test to pass. It involves assessment of the individual circumstances of the patient on a case-by-case basis.

Higher Education: Foreign Students

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Taylor of Holbeach on 4 March (WA 367), for how long non-European Union students sponsored by a licensed employer under tier 2 of the points-based system because of an offer of an approved graduate-level job paying at least £20,000 have leave to remain in the United Kingdom; whether such time qualifies toward obtaining United Kingdom nationality; why the figure of £20,000 was chosen; what checks are made to ascertain whether students take up the jobs offered; whether there is a cap on numbers in that category; and how many such applications have been made to date.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: The maximum period someone is permitted to stay in the United Kingdom under the tier two (general) category of the points-based system is six years. Such time can count towards obtaining British citizenship.
	The £20,000 threshold is based on analysis by the Migration Advisory Committee in 2009, which found that £20,000 was roughly equivalent to the 30th percentile of the earnings distribution for full-time workers. They concluded that it is difficult to argue that a job paying less than this is sufficiently skilled to qualify for tier 2.
	Tier 2 sponsors are required to report to the UK Border Agency if a migrant they intend to sponsor and to whom they have assigned a certificate of sponsorship does not take up the post offered to them. UK Border Agency compliance officers conduct visits to tier two sponsors to check that they are making these required reports.
	There is no cap on the numbers of non-European Economic Area students permitted to switch into tier two (general) from tier four or any of its predecessor student immigration categories.
	It is not possible to say how many applications have been made by non-European Economic Area students because this would incur disproportionate costs.

Higher Education: Staff

Lord Bradley: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many academic staff working in post-16 education have been reclassified from public sector employees to private sector employees in each of the past three years.

Baroness Garden of Frognal: Separate figures for academic staff are not collected.

House of Lords: Remuneration

Lord Campbell-Savours: To ask the Chairman of Committees whether any person directly or indirectly employed by, or offering services to, the House of Lords is remunerated by the House of Lords Finance Department under a personal service company arrangement.

Lord Sewel: No one on the staff of the House of Lords is paid through a personal services company.
	The House does not collect this information about its suppliers. The Administration has however identified at least one current contractor to the House of Lords (a short-term consultant) who is being paid through a personal services company.

Housing Benefit

Lord Greaves: To ask Her Majesty's Government what are the allocations to each local authority for discretionary housing payments (DHP) (1) in total, and (2) for each category of DHP.

Lord Freud: Local authorities receive a single allocation towards discretionary housing payments. The amount they receive is not broken down into separate categories to ensure local authorities have maximum flexibility to deal with local circumstances.
	Details of the allocation to each local authority for 2013-14 are as follows:
	
		
			 Local Authority Government contribution 
			 Aberdeen £226,785 
			 Aberdeenshire £160,695 
			 Adur £91,741 
			 Allerdale £121,124 
			 Amber Valley £174,225 
			 Angus £130,802 
			 Argyll and Bute £152,601 
			 Arun £249,622 
			 Ashfield £222,973 
			 Ashford £170,625 
			 Aylesbury Vale £180,088 
			 Babergh £115,215 
			 Barking & Dagenham £1,310,802 
			 Barnet £1,998,661 
			 Barnsley £364,513 
			 Barrow in Furness £99,921 
			 Basildon £405,844 
			 Basingstoke and Deane £195,063 
			 Bassetlaw £126,148 
			 Bath & North East Somerset £243,479 
			 Bedford £349,100 
			 Bexley £533,858 
			 Birmingham £3,770,701 
			 Blaby £88,011 
			 Blackburn with Darwen £376,643 
			 Blackpool £693,562 
			 Blaenau Gwent £160,251 
			 Bolsover £92,187 
			 Bolton £623,659 
			 Boston £90,500 
			 Bournemouth £502,652 
			 Bracknell Forest £139,795 
			 Bradford £1,176,314 
			 Braintree £199,001 
			 Breckland £197,748 
			 Brent £4,815,410 
			 Brentwood £100,955 
			 Bridgend £279,100 
			 Brighton and Hove £1,014,714 
			 Bristol £1,137,227 
			 Broadland £99,507 
			 Bromley £700,174 
			 Bromsgrove £90,358 
			 Broxbourne £230,976 
			 Broxtowe £107,734 
			 Burnley £202,307 
			 Bury £324,003 
			 Caerphilly £292,597 
			 Calderdale £383,941 
			 Cambridge £182,340 
			 Camden £1,680,807 
			 Cannock Chase £114,555 
			 Canterbury £197,878 
			 Cardiff £1,102,669 
			 Carlisle £142,640 
			 Carmarthenshire £280,840 
			 Castle Point £155,005 
			 Central Bedfordshire £280,944 
			 Ceredigion £163,391 
			 Charnwood £132,326 
			 Chelmsford £230,903 
			 Cheltenham £189,052 
			 Cherwell £203,354 
			 Cheshire East £451,401 
			 Cheshire West and Chester £450,773 
			 Chesterfield £169,828 
			 Chichester £233,549 
			 Chiltern £99,288 
			 Chorley £126,621 
			 Christchurch £81,952 
			 City of London £36,373 
			 Clackmannanshire £162,088 
			 Colchester £448,524 
			 Comhairle nan Eilean Siar £49,911 
			 Conwy £242,700 
			 Copeland £94,263 
			 Corby £92,250 
			 Cornwall £867,795 
			 Cotswold £88,837 
			 Coventry £798,643 
			 Craven £62,717 
			 Crawley £255,365 
			 Croydon £1,791,425 
			 Dacorum £256,222 
			 Darlington £224,185 
			 Dartford £154,767 
			 Daventry £74,259 
			 Denbighshire £217,194 
			 Derby £560,754 
			 Derbyshire Dales £69,705 
			 Doncaster £518,953 
			 Dover £227,343 
			 Dudley £494,398 
			 Dumfries and Galloway £232,271 
			 Dundee £311,904 
			 Durham £883,089 
			 Ealing £3,127,358 
			 East Ayrshire £142,006 
			 East Cambridgeshire £101,414 
			 East Devon £176,239 
			 East Dorset £98,435 
			 East Dunbartonshire £102,051 
			 East Hampshire £91,865 
			 East Hertfordshire £162,055 
			 East Lindsey £219,168 
			 East Lothian £125,982 
			 East Northamptonshire £85,490 
			 East Renfrewshire £82,776 
			 East Riding of Yorkshire £374,414 
			 East Staffordshire £130,209 
			 Eastbourne £256,602 
			 Eastleigh £127,292 
			 Eden £51,990 
			 Edinburgh £1,347,299 
			 Elmbridge £282,500 
			 Enfield £3,246,226 
			 Epping Forest £206,998 
			 Epsom and Ewell £130,857 
			 Erewash £195,535 
			 Exeter £219,021 
			 Falkirk £136,698 
			 Fareham £89,833 
			 Fenland £146,827 
			 Fife £435,614 
			 Flintshire £242,119 
			 Forest Heath £103,973 
			 Forest of Dean £106,805 
			 Fylde £105,441 
			 Gateshead £373,518 
			 Gedling £133,837 
			 Glasgow £2,979,970 
			 Gloucester £234,429 
			 Gosport £134,600 
			 Gravesham £198,353 
			 Great Yarmouth £231,334 
			 Greenwich £1,136,207 
			 Guildford £206,697 
			 Gwynedd £241,353 
			 Hackney £2,324,080 
			 Halton £282,452 
			 Hambleton £85,775 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham £1,488,830 
			 Harborough £58,542 
			 Haringey £2,422,506 
			 Harlow £200,945 
			 Harrogate £179,021 
			 Harrow £1,223,994 
			 Hart £72,264 
			 Hartlepool £317,087 
			 Hastings £320,232 
			 Havant £204,320 
			 Havering £582,761 
			 Herefordshire £213,937 
			 Hertsmere £187,929 
			 High Peak £106,783 
			 Highland £216,106 
			 Hillingdon £1,245,418 
			 Hinckley and Bosworth £93,843 
			 Horsham £120,902 
			 Hounslow £1,117,181 
			 Huntingdonshire £169,561 
			 Hyndburn £186,608 
			 Inverclyde £212,068 
			 Ipswich £289,363 
			 Isle of Anglesey £136,536 
			 Isle of Wight £226,320 
			 Isles of Scilly £17,396 
			 Islington £1,628,508 
			 Kensington and Chelsea £2,263,207 
			 Kettering £136,864 
			 King's Lynn & West Norfolk £219,911 
			 Kingston upon Hull £707,645 
			 Kingston upon Thames £426,956 
			 Kirklees £852,960 
			 Knowsley £468,623 
			 Lambeth £1,544,093 
			 Lancaster £211,058 
			 Leeds £1,924,162 
			 Leicester £813,252 
			 Lewes £180,542 
			 Lewisham £1,666,074 
			 Lichfield £102,808 
			 Lincoln £199,741 
			 Liverpool £1,606,233 
			 Luton £573,104 
			 Maidstone £247,458 
			 Maldon £87,221 
			 Malvern Hills £92,610 
			 Manchester £1,922,105 
			 Mansfield £155,246 
			 Medway £563,046 
			 Melton £51,644 
			 Mendip £148,943 
			 Merthyr Tydfil £124,556 
			 Merton £641,766 
			 Mid Devon £101,300 
			 Mid Suffolk £88,555 
			 Mid Sussex £128,262 
			 Middlesbrough £483,272 
			 Midlothian £150,453 
			 Milton Keynes £576,204 
			 Mole Valley £98,765 
			 Monmouthshire £121,978 
			 Moray £68,980 
			 Neath Port Talbot £318,083 
			 New Forest £198,899 
			 Newark and Sherwood £126,616 
			 Newcastle under Lyme £135,044 
			 Newcastle upon Tyne £685,271 
			 Newham £2,472,896 
			 Newport £343,870 
			 North Ayrshire £273,421 
			 North Devon £133,055 
			 North Dorset £68,387 
			 North East Derbyshire £82,603 
			 North East Lincolnshire £346,457 
			 North Hertfordshire £164,689 
			 North Kesteven £98,229 
			 North Lanarkshire £374,676 
			 North Lincolnshire £238,069 
			 North Norfolk £112,312 
			 North Somerset £382,340 
			 North Tyneside £331,993 
			 North Warwickshire £77,981 
			 North West Leicestershire £94,912 
			 Northampton £420,634 
			 Northumberland £416,365 
			 Norwich £288,314 
			 Nottingham £696,031 
			 Nuneaton and Bedworth £196,127 
			 Oadby and Wigston £57,589 
			 Oldham £498,663 
			 Orkney £26,754 
			 Oxford £525,369 
			 Pembrokeshire £193,940 
			 Pendle £142,591 
			 Perth and Kinross £149,177 
			 Peterborough £431,147 
			 Plymouth £467,875 
			 Poole £275,652 
			 Portsmouth £472,895 
			 Powys £154,975 
			 Preston £246,193 
			 Purbeck £66,674 
			 Reading £492,480 
			 Redbridge £1,620,804 
			 Redcar and Cleveland £308,690 
			 Redditch £136,516 
			 Reigate and Banstead £152,284 
			 Renfrewshire £251,714 
			 Rhondda Cynon Taf £451,301 
			 Ribble Valley £46,969 
			 Richmond upon Thames £406,202 
			 Richmondshire £54,366 
			 Rochdale £517,104 
			 Rochford £99,169 
			 Rossendale £118,986 
			 Rother £157,471 
			 Rotherham £437,763 
			 Rugby £111,451 
			 Runnymede £102,996 
			 Rushcliffe £82,416 
			 Rushmoor £134,085 
			 Rutland £36,068 
			 Ryedale £63,868 
			 Salford £679,931 
			 Sandwell £739,954 
			 Scarborough £215,431 
			 Scottish Borders £170,470 
			 Sedgemoor £169,645 
			 Sefton £547,790 
			 Selby £89,422 
			 Sevenoaks £126,778 
			 Sheffield £995,802 
			 Shepway £252,002 
			 Shetland £22,223 
			 Shropshire £277,475 
			 Slough £678,526 
			 Solihull £294,866 
			 South Ayrshire £233,422 
			 South Bucks £87,728 
			 South Cambridgeshire £151,251 
			 South Derbyshire £102,358 
			 South Gloucestershire £327,799 
			 South Hams £143,678 
			 South Holland £91,630 
			 South Kesteven £130,752 
			 South Lakeland £95,456 
			 South Lanarkshire £413,967 
			 South Norfolk £143,468 
			 South Northamptonshire £58,950 
			 South Oxfordshire £121,872 
			 South Ribble £106,928 
			 South Somerset £213,132 
			 South Staffordshire £94,263 
			 South Tyneside £305,483 
			 Southampton £527,593 
			 Southend on Sea £581,762 
			 Southwark £1,119,665 
			 Spelthorne £202,036 
			 St Albans £170,097 
			 St Edmundsbury £142,100 
			 St Helens £399,636 
			 Stafford £110,857 
			 Staffordshire Moorlands £91,836 
			 Stevenage £163,535 
			 Stirling £111,886 
			 Stockport £468,735 
			 Stockton on Tees £395,220 
			 Stoke on Trent £548,270 
			 Stratford on Avon £216,801 
			 Stroud £134,509 
			 Suffolk Coastal £146,682 
			 Sunderland £658,202 
			 Surrey Heath £80,872 
			 Sutton £454,861 
			 Swale £323,270 
			 Swansea £474,871 
			 Swindon £280,944 
			 Tameside £478,213 
			 Tamworth £111,536 
			 Tandridge £103,115 
			 Taunton Deane £134,967 
			 Teignbridge £186,222 
			 Telford and Wrekin £356,911 
			 Tendring £401,660 
			 Test Valley £114,626 
			 Tewkesbury £102,864 
			 Thanet £401,310 
			 Three Rivers £155,415 
			 Thurrock £354,201 
			 Tonbridge and Malling £129,610 
			 Torbay £393,853 
			 Torfaen £193,584 
			 Torridge £93,699 
			 Tower Hamlets £2,237,330 
			 Trafford £374,833 
			 Tunbridge Wells £143,019 
			 Uttlesford £100,027 
			 Vale of Glamorgan £219,639 
			 Vale of White Horse £125,358 
			 Wakefield £644,505 
			 Walsall £590,745 
			 Waltham Forest £1,517,954 
			 Wandsworth £1,839,423 
			 Warrington £292,712 
			 Warwick £168,556 
			 Watford £216,854 
			 Waveney £225,093 
			 Waverley £145,124 
			 Wealden £177,594 
			 Wellingborough £121,436 
			 Welwyn Hatfield £160,761 
			 West Berkshire £241,672 
			 West Devon £71,305 
			 West Dorset £119,046 
			 West Dunbartonshire £325,468 
			 West Lancashire £158,909 
			 West Lindsey £114,798 
			 West Lothian £239,205 
			 West Oxfordshire £95,797 
			 West Somerset £68,453 
			 Westminster £5,930,283 
			 Weymouth and Portland £150,321 
			 Wigan £456,084 
			 Wiltshire £474,331 
			 Winchester £105,155 
			 Windsor and Maidenhead £227,918 
			 Wirral £917,214 
			 Woking £166,627 
			 Wokingham £123,395 
			 Wolverhampton £633,653 
			 Worcester £172,487 
			 Worthing £160,257 
			 Wrexham £198,082 
			 Wychavon £124,639 
			 Wycombe £247,140 
			 Wyre £168,131 
			 Wyre Forest £152,091 
			 York £286,409 
			  £155,000,000

Immigration: Deportation

Baroness Doocey: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many unaccompanied minors, excluding those from other European countries, departed the United Kingdom in 2012.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: We do not hold data on the number of unaccompanied minors departing the United Kingdom in 2012.

Internet: Drugs

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they will take to tackle the availability of lethal drugs on the internet.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: The Government take the issue of internet crime, whether it is the unlawful advertising and sale of controlled drugs or other activity, very seriously. No drug or medicine is 100% safe and most have the potential to be lethal if misused.
	Action to restrict drug supply, including the unlawful supply of medicines, is a priority for law enforcement and other regulatory agencies. This activity includes monitoring of controlled drugs and medicines for sale on the internet; and action with industry partners to close UK based websites trading illegally in these substances. There is also ongoing work with the EU and other international regulatory authorities to ensure that, wherever possible, offending websites are amended to reflect the law.

Maldives

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the Government of the Maldives about the sentence of flogging of a 15 year-old rape victim in that country; and what information they have on the frequency of such sentences in the Maldives.

Baroness Warsi: Following the sentence, officials at our High Commission in Colombo, which is also accredited for Maldives, have spoken with the Maldivian Deputy Foreign Minister. They conveyed our deep concern at the sentencing of the 15 year-old sexual abuse victim.
	The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my honourable friend the Member for North East Bedfordshire (Mr Burt, Minister responsible for the Maldives) issued a statement on 1 March in which he stated that he was "appalled by reports from Maldives that a 15 year-old victim of sexual abuse had been sentenced to flogging and up to eight months house arrest for charges of pre-marital sex". We welcome the subsequent statement from the President's Office in Maldives, and hope that the promised review into child protection mechanisms in Maldives will take place urgently, and child rights will be fully protected.
	In 2011, 11 out of 129 people sentenced to 100 lashes were minors. The last judicial statistics report (published in 2011) showed that 90% of those flogged are women.

Migration Advisory Committee

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Taylor of Holbeach on 4 March (WA 370), whether the primary purpose of the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) remains the provision of "independent, transparent and evidence-based advice to Government on where labour market shortages exist that can sensibly be filled by migration"; and whether they will widen the MAC's Stakeholder Panel to include sectors of the economy such as local government and representatives of the unemployed.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: The remit of the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) is as I described it in my Written Answer of 4 March (WA 370) and includes providing advice on labour market shortages. There are no plans at present to alter the constitution of the Stakeholder Panel. The MAC reaches out to a wide range of organisations in its work and employs a number of mechanisms for taking on board the views of those with an interest in its work, including workshops, face-to-face meetings and issuing open calls for evidence.

NHS: Contractors

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they are taking in response to the National Audit Office's report that Serco falsified data in relation to the out-of-hours general practitioner service in Cornwall.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the reports that Cornwall primary care trust did not monitor the Serco contract closely enough.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will investigate the contracts held by Serco with the NHS.

Earl Howe: The department will consider the National Audit Office (NAO) report carefully and work with partners, including the National Health Service Commissioning Board, to ensure that the issues raised in the report are addressed as appropriate.
	The department does not generally hold information centrally about NHS contracts because it is local NHS bodies themselves such as primary care trusts (PCTs) which are procuring authorities and are accountable and responsible for decisions concerning the performance of the contract and the contractor.
	As information on this contract is not held centrally, the noble Lord may wish to contact Cornwall and Isles of Scilly PCT for further information. We understand that Kernow Clinical Commissioning Group will take over the contract from 1 April 2013.

NHS: Non-UK Citizen Patients

Lord Marlesford: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many non-United Kingdom citizens are currently (1) in-patients in NHS hospitals, and (2) registered as patients with NHS general practitioners.

Earl Howe: The department does not hold this information.

North Korea

Lord Patten: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Warsi on 26 February (WA 304), what are the small number of state-controlled churches and other places of worship in North Korea.

Baroness Warsi: We are aware of four state-controlled churches in Pyongyang-two Protestant, one Catholic and one Russian Orthodox. It is not known how many North Koreans freely attend these churches. Other places of worship in North Korea include a mosque on the Iranian Embassy compound and some Buddhist temples.

UK Border Agency: Staff

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask Her Majesty's Government what qualifications are needed by UK Border Agency caseworkers; and what (1) standard, and (2) continued professional development, training is provided for UK Border Agency caseworkers.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: Depending on the specific case working role, the current qualifications needed by UK Border Agency caseworkers are either (a) 2:2 degree, or two A-levels at grade C or above (b) 2:2 degree, or five GCSE at grade C or above.
	All UK Border Agency staff receive mandatory e-learning in information management and information assurance, keeping children safe, human trafficking, health and safety awareness, introduction to diversity and equality, counterfraud, bribery and corruption.
	There are a number of different case-working functions in the UK Border Agency. Each has a specific mandatory training programme which all caseworkers undertake prior to making casework decisions. Caseworkers also receive counter terrorism training and casework information database training. Caseworkers who interview applicants attend a mandatory two day personal safety training course. This is followed by an annual one day refresher course. Additional training is provided as caseworkers develop and progress in their role.
	Report writing training is provided by Civil Service Learning and is mandatory for those engaged in providing reports for court or for intelligence reports. All officers engaged in these activities have completed this training.

Universal Credit

Baroness Lister of Burtersett: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is (1) the number, and (2) the proportion, of (a) single, and (b) joint, universal credit recipients which they expect to be paid by a simple payment card.

Lord Freud: We estimate that approximately 60,000 working age claimants will be paid by simple payments once the current migration from cheques has been completed. This is less than 1% of the estimated total number of universal credit claimants by the time rollout is completed in 2017. No estimate has been made of the proportions of this group made up of single and joint claimants.

Universal Credit

Baroness Lister of Burtersett: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether universal credit recipients who are paid with a simple payment card will be allowed to withdraw only part of their monthly or twice-monthly universal credit payment if they so choose.

Lord Freud: The simple payment card will allow users to withdraw the whole amount (and not part) of each benefit payment at the same time, up to a daily limit of £600.
	Universal credit recipients who want to withdraw only part of their monthly or twice-monthly universal credit payment will need to use a transactional bank account.

Visas

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Taylor of Holbeach on 4 March (WA 367), how many employers are licensed by the UK Border Agency to sponsor migrants under tiers 2 and 5 of the points-based system; what fee they pay annually; for how long a registration is valid; and whether they will publish the figures of how many workers are sponsored each year by each registered employer.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: There were 26,179 employers on the tier 2 and tier 5 register on 2 January 2013.
	There is no annual fee for a sponsor licence. The fee for a tier 2 sponsor licence only is £500 for a small sponsor or an organisation with charitable status and £1,500 for a medium or large sponsor. The fee for a tier 5 licence only is £500. Licences are granted for a four year period.
	There are currently no plans to publish data relating to individual sponsoring employers, however the quarterly statistics are kept under review, taking into account the needs of users, burdens on suppliers and producers, in line with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics. The Home Office publishes information about the sponsorship register and on numbers of sponsored applications for visas and for extensions, within the quarterly Immigration Statistics (tables cs.01 to cs.05). A copy of the latest release, Immigration Statistics October-December 2012 is available from the Home Office Science, research and statistics webpages at: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/science-research/research-statistics/migration/migration-statisticsl/ and is available from the Library of the House.